The Stanley Brown Associate Member Distinguished Service Award is presented to an individual associate member who has helped make the industry more professional, is known for outstanding service and the contribution of ideas, programs and/or educational endeavors, and has been a loyal supporter of ALCC and Colorado’s landscape industry. Kim Douglas of AEC Consultant Group received this year’s award.

Douglas has always loved building and designing, and has a strong affection for the outdoors, which made landscape architecture her major at Iowa State University. After graduating, she moved to Colorado to start her career. She practiced as a landscape architect for 15 years on urban design projects and served a term as the Colorado ASLA president. In 2018, her passion for the industry hadn’t changed, but her path within it did. She founded her marketing consulting firm, AEC Consultant Group—a rebrand of Rarity Consultants, the original name—and joined ALCC as an associate member.

She feels her background as a landscape architect gives her unique problem-solving abilities. She understands the industry and since joining ALCC she has been a consistent resource for members. Douglas has helped clients solve branding issues, offered lunch-and-learns and other special events, written articles for Colorado Green magazine and Colorado Green Now, and has been a consistent presence at networking events. When she made the move back to Iowa during the pandemic, her business pivoted to online communications. She began offering Zoom meetings and webinars to not only stay connected to clients but help clients stay connected to others during times of limited social contact.

Based on lessons learned from her business and her desire to serve, Douglas’s tenet is: “Share your knowledge with everyone. Those who need your help will find you.” When she is not working, she spends time with her extended family and explores nearby states and sites.